Wild sign Petr Sykora to a one-year contract

NHL.com

Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher today announced the National Hockey League club signed forward Petr Sykora to a one-year contract.

Sykora, 32, completed his 14th NHL season in 2008-09, ranked fourth on the Pittsburgh Penguins in scoring posting 46 points (25-21=46) in 76 games. He led the club and ranked tied for third in the NHL with 10 game-winning goals. Sykora netted his 300th NHL goal April 7 in Tampa Bay. He added one assist in seven playoff games as the Penguins claimed the Stanley Cup. Sykora has reached five Stanley Cup finals, including two titles.

Sykora was the Penguins' fourth-leading scorer in 2007-08, recording 63 points (28-35=63) in 81 regular season games and nine points (6-3=9) in 20 playoff games as the Penguins advanced to the Stanley Cup finals. The 6-foot, 190-pound native of Plzen, Czech Republic, has 674 points (300-374=674) in 921 regular season NHL games, and 69 points (32-37=69) in 115 playoff games. Sykora was New Jersey's first-round pick (No. 15 overall) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He represented the Czech Republic at the 2004 Olympics, and played for the Czech Republic in three World Championships (1998, 1999, 2005), two World Cups (1997 and 2005), and two World Junior Championships (1994, 1995).

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I don't have a crystal ball. Predicting is a real complicated thing. If we stay healthy, have enough depth and get the good goaltending we think we're going to have, you can go all the way. But a lot of things have to happen. There's going to be a lot of teams that think the same thing. Everyone made deals. We're all are optimistic about where we'll end up.

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